NHL Draft Notes: Canucks complete a 'Hat' trick

This Dec. 17, 2013, file photo shows Los Angeles Kings' Linden Vey skating against the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL game in Los Angeles. Vey was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, June 28, 2014, by the Los Angeles Kings for the 50th overall pick.

Photograph by: Danny Moloshok
, AP

PHILADELPHIA — Willie Desjardins felt ready for the National Hockey League anyway, but the weekend acquisition of two of his former Medicine Hat Tiger players added another level of comfort for the Vancouver Canucks’ new head coach.

Former Western Hockey League scoring champion Linden Vey, who played for Desjardins for three seasons, was acquired Saturday from the Los Angeles Kings, one day after the Canucks traded for New York Ranger winger Derek Dorsett, who was at the core of Desjardins’ 2007 team that beat the Vancouver Giants in the WHL final but lost to them at the Memorial Cup.

“I think they make it a little easier for me,” Desjardins, who was not at draft, said in a telephone interview. “But the bottom line is they have to come in and earn their spots. They know what to expect from me. Both are great, character guys.”

Dorsett, who was married Saturday in his bride’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio, told The New York Daily News last season that Desjardins was the most influential coach he ever had.

Vey told The Vancouver Sun: “The three years I was there with him are probably the three best years of hockey that I’ve had. He brings so much passion to the game. He’s a guy who just finds a way to bring everyone together. There are not even words to describe how he does it. Just the way he comes across, he makes everyone want to play so hard for him.”

Dorsett is from Kindersley, Sask., Vey from Wakaw, Sask.

Desjardins, who is from Climax, Sask., said he is excited about his group of players, but admitted he is “maybe a little bit” concerned about where the scoring will come from.

The Canucks are expected to try adding some offence when free agency opens Tuesday.

FROM BC TO B.C.: San Diego goalie Thatcher Demko, drafted early in the second round on Saturday, will try following former Canuck Cory Schneider’s successful trail from Boston College to Vancouver. Demko, 18, said he doesn’t personally know Schneider, the Canucks’ 2004 first-rounder who was traded a year ago to the New Jersey Devils, but sees the Boston College alumnus at the Eagles’ training facility during the off-season.

“You have two No. 1 guys and you end up trading them both, that’s definitely an interesting situation,” Demko said when asked if he was familiar with the Schneider-Roberto Luongo saga. “But it happens in that business. Hopefully, there’s an opportunity for me. I’m willing to work for it.”

Growing up in San Diego, where his dad’s family settled after moving from Ontario, Demko had to work hard just to play minor hockey. Ice time and elite competition were scarce, and his parents drove him as far as Los Angeles for games.

“We’ve been on this journey together,” his dad Brenton Demko, who went to the University of British Columbia for two years, said. “I don’t know if there are words to describe how I feel today. Thatch has played all over the world for Team USA. You take a couple of steps back and think, man, he is from San Diego, California.”

“I’m an abnormal California kid,” Thatcher said. “See, I don’t have the tan going like all my friends do. I’m not at the beach. I’m always stuck in the rink. No sun in there.”

Demko shone as a freshman at Boston College, winning the starting job and leading the Eagles to U.S. college hockey’s Frozen Four. He finished with a 2.24 goals-against average and .919 save rate and probably would have been a first-round pick Friday were he not considering maintenance surgery on his hips. The surgery has become increasingly common for goalies, but entails a recovery period of three to six months. Demko is committed to playing next season at university and, he hopes, for Team USA at the world junior championship.

“You’ve just got to weigh the options,” he said. “I’m going to play through it this year, then re-evaluate it next year. It’s not like a horrible pain, it’s just stiffness. It’s something I can definitely deal with. The surgeon actually said you can play with it 15 or 20 years as long as you can manage the pain.”

A RUSSIAN IS COMING?: Third-round draft pick Nikita Tryamkin is the first Russian drafted by the Canucks since centre Ilya Kablukov was selected in the fifth round in 2007.

Kablukov never played a game in North America and has been on five teams in six seasons in the Kontinenal Hockey League. Tryamkin, a six-foot-seven, stay-at-home defenceman, is a calculated risk for the Canucks. He has two more seasons on his KHL contract with Yekaterinburg, then will try to play for the Canucks. If he doesn’t make their NHL team, he’ll probably return to Russia.

Tryamkin, who turns 20 in August, answered questions at the draft through Canuck scout Sergei Chibisov.

“He has been dreaming to play in NHL since he was a kid,” Chibisov said. “The money is not the issue for him. He says coming to NHL is next step in his career and the best league in the world, so he wants to come and make the next step.”

DRAFT NOTES: Swedish scout Thomas Gradin said Canuck fifth-round pick Gustav Forsling is like a left-sided Sami Salo the way the defenceman shoots the puck. ... After general manager Jim Benning said Friday the Canucks were getting back to “meat-and-potatoes” hockey, he loaded up on meat Saturday. Besides Tryamkin, the Canucks’ final two draft picks were 6-foot-4 Erie Otters’ checking centre Kyle Pettit, and 6-foot-5 Prince Albert Raiders’ defenceman Mackenzie Stewart. ... Florida Panther GM Dale Tallon held on to the first-overall pick but said the Canucks were “definitely the first team that made a legitimate offer.” ... Anaheim GM Bob Murray, who orchestrated Friday’s trade for Canuck Ryan Kesler, praised Benning’s directness and honesty during three weeks of negotiations. “He was very straight,” Murray said.

This Dec. 17, 2013, file photo shows Los Angeles Kings' Linden Vey skating against the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL game in Los Angeles. Vey was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, June 28, 2014, by the Los Angeles Kings for the 50th overall pick.

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